Indian Muslim leaders condemn Peshawar bomb attack

Suhail Lokhandwala, a former chairman of the Minorities Commission in India, said, "True Islam does not endorse any kind of violence; the terrorists are not part of our community."

India

Sep 30 2013, 6:19 PM

A group of Indian Muslim leaders met with Mumbai bishops on Wednesday at the Archbishop's Palace to condemn the Peshawar bomb attack on a Church that claimed the lives of nearly 100 people and injured more than 130.

Suhail Lokhandwala, a former chairman of the Minorities Commission in India, said, "True Islam does not endorse any kind of violence; the terrorists are not part of our community."

Lokhandawala and other Islamic leaders met with auxiliary Bishops Agnelo Gracias and Dominic Savio Fernandes of Mumbai. Minorities Commission Vice President Janet D'Souza was also in attendance.

“The attack on the church of Peshawar in Pakistan is a disgrace to Islam and to all humanity. The authors of the attack are cowards and terrorists. Even if they are Muslims, they cannot be considered members of the Islamic community," said Lokhandwala.

"As a follower of the Prophet Muhammad and a devotee to Allah," said Lokhandawala, "I remember that true Islam does not endorse any kind of violence. The Christian and Catholic communities have our full solidarity."

The other Muslim leaders also noted that "wherever Islam is the majority, it has a duty to protect minorities."

Bishop Fernandes said, "We Catholics do not condemn the entire Muslim community for this attack. Terrorists have no religion; there is only hatred in their hearts. This is why we must fight terrorism with the weapons of prayer and love. They are the only tools with which we can transform the hatred of these people in love."

The prelate said that the Peshawar massacre "is not only a crime against humanity, but against the same God that these people claim to represent. Anyone who is capable of doing something so vile has no religion."